Ravi Pal equaliser to India’s rescue

Ipoh (Malaysia), May 6: Ravi Pal Singh’s last minute equaliser saved India the blushes as the defending champions eked out a 1-1 draw against China in their first match of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament here on Thursday.

China went ahead in the 13th minute through Sun Tianjun and India, after squandering chances galore, equalised at the fag end of the tie when Ravi Pal scored from a goalmouth melee.

India went all out for an early lead and mounted attacks before their rivals could settle down. Winger Mandeep Antil sent a crisp cross into the striking circle but Danish Mujtaba erred and soon Tushar Khandker cut in from the left flank to set up Shivendra Singh, whose push missed the mark.

China gradually started asserting their supremacy with regular onslaughts as their swift ball rotation had the Indian defence in disarray and it was left to the versatile Sardar Singh to blunt the Chinese moves.
India nearly conceded the lead in the 11th minute but goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh brought off a good save from a turnover. China finally opened their account two minutes later when Sun Tianjun deflected home from a Meng Jun reverse flick.

The Chinese players had the Indian midfield on a tight leash and forwards Sarwanjit Singh and Shivendra were often caught napping. To their credit, India earned five penalty corners but the flicks and variations were not good for the equaliser.

The equaliser eventually came eleven seconds from the final whistle as the Indians succeeded in putting the ball past China goalkeeper Su Rifeng from a melee with midfielder Ravi Pal getting the last touch.
India will play Pakistan in their next match on Friday.

In other match, South Korea whipped Egypt 6-0, while Pakistan drew 3-3 with Malaysia. — PTI